Soren Dam

Author: Søren Friis Dam

Tracking embedded and dynamically loaded YouTube videos via Google Tag Manager

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Tracking YouTube videos in Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager is not a trivial thing. Previously, I have been using the method proposed by CardinalPath and it works pretty well for most people. However, I needed a bit more flexibility; e.g. I need to track not only embedded videos but also videos loaded dynamically. This could be videos loaded in a lightbox popup. In my case, videos loaded via the Magnific Popup script.

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Nodes disappearing from internal cache in Umbraco

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Occasionally some of the sites I have made in Umbraco 4 have pages that are for some reason not in the internal cache. The solution is to run the following command while logged in to Umbraco:

http://www.example.com/umbraco/dialogs/republish.aspx?xml=true

This will republish all pages and put them back into the cache. It can take quite a while if it is a large site.

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WordPress: Get custom posts type posts with specific taxonomy term

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On a project I’m working on the client wanted to show only posts from a custom post type that belonged to a specific custom taxonomy. I did a search on Google and didn’t really find any complete solution.

$post_type = 'project';
$taxonomy = 'skill';
$taxonomy_term_id = 5;

$projects = new WP_Query([
    'post_type'      => $post_type,
    'numberposts'    => - 1,
    'posts_per_page' => - 1,
    'tax_query'      => [
        [
            'taxonomy'         => 'skill',
            'field'            => 'id',
            'terms'            => $taxonomy_term_id ,
            'include_children' => false
        ]
    ]
]);

This will get all posts of custom post type ‘project’ that has a custom taxonomy ‘skill’ and where that skill contains the skill term with id 5.

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Angular 2 resources and tutorials

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As I’m trying to learn how to use Angular 2, I have compiled a list of useful resources that has helped me getting started using the framwork.

Introduction to Angular 2

ES6/TypeScript

Learning angular 2 basic concepts

Forms in Angular 2

Observables in Angular 2

Introduction to ReactiveX

Ressources on use of observables in Angular 2

Dependency Injection in Angular 2

Http Requests in Angular 2

Books

Angular 2 starter kits

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Prevent reload with BrowserSync and Laravel

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I use BrowserSync with Laravel Elixir and I found that when I use cache busting it reloads the page instead of injecting the CSS into it. This is of course due to the way cache busting works. Still, this is quite annoying. However, there is a really simple solution to the issue. In your master blade template just make a check to see if you are on a local environment like so:

@if (app()->isLocal())
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{{ asset('css/app.css') }}">
@else
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{{ elixir('css/app.css') }}">
@endif

This is half the solution.

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Remove node_modules folder on Windows without errors

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I sometimes get errors when I run npm install for my Gulp or Grunt projects. To retry I need to remove the node_modules folder and sometimes that causes problems as when you are on Windows. I had a look around and found a Git repository named rimraf.

To remove a node_modules folder on your system, first install rimraf globally

npm install rimraf -g

Then, navigate to the folder just above the folder you want to remove and run

rimraf node_modules

…and the node_modules folder will be removed.

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Create additional databases in Laravel Homestead

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It is really easy to ad more databases in Laravel Homested. Simply edit the Homestead.yaml file (in Windows under C:Usersyour-username.homesteadHomestead.yaml)

Under databases add your databases like this:

# content above omitted

databases:
    - homestead
    - my_new_database
    - another_database

# content below omitted

If you virtual machine is already running navigate to your Homestead folder and run the command vagrant provision to create the new database(s). If it is not running simply run vagrant up.

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OpenVPN Server and ASUS router setup

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I initially set up my new ASUS RT-AC87U router with PPTP VPN but decided to go for the more secure Open VPN. I followed the instructions for this on ASUS’s website, but I was never able to get it up and running. I took a look around the web and finally I figured out how to make a setup that works. Here is how I did it.

Visit the VPN settings of your router’s interface at http://192.168.1.1/Advanced_VPN_OpenVPN.asp (if you haven’t changed anything this should be the address to use).

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Solution to MySQL error “Error establishing a database connection” in WordPress on DigitalOcean

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I’m hosting my sites with DigitalOcean (referral link) on the smallest VPS with 512 MB Ram. It’s a cheap way of hosting as I can have virtually as many sites I want on the VPS – and in case it is too slow I can easily upgrade it from the control panel. However, I occasionally get an error on my WordPress sites saying  “Error establishing a database connection”. I searched around for a solution and finally found that I needed to add a swap file to the server.

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Take control of your console in Windows with Babun, Oh My Zsh, and Powerline fonts

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I accidentally stumbled upon a console named Babun. It is based on Cygwin so if you like a Linux like environment you should definitely check it out. It comes with a lot of cool packages installed and uses the fabulous oh-my-zsh as default shell.

Download Babun and run install.bat – wait for a couple of minutes. Once installation has finished Babun will automatically start.

To style Babun edit the oh-my-zsh configuration by typing nano .zshrc .  

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